Antonio v. Bilge Inc.
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:21-cv-01871
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Melesio Antonio v. Sipsak Inc., Judge Schofield entered default judgment for $452,792.73 plus interest, fees, and costs under wage laws.
Melesio Antonio received the monetary award. Sipsak Inc., doing business as Sip Sak, and Melissa Yegen were subject to the default judgment and related payment obligations.
What happened
Melesio Antonio sued Sipsak Inc., doing business as Sip Sak, and Melissa Yegen under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The defendants did not appear in the damages proceedings after default certificates were entered.
A magistrate judge recommended awarding Antonio $452,792.73 for unpaid overtime, spread-of-hours wages, liquidated damages, prejudgment interest, and statutory damages, plus additional interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs. No timely objections were filed.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield adopted the recommendation in part and modified it in part. She entered default judgment against the defendants, awarded Antonio $452,792.73, added prejudgment interest of $17,234.51 per year from October 29, 2021, until judgment, and awarded post-judgment interest, $4,330 in attorneys’ fees, and $402 in costs.
The detailed version
- Antonio v. Bilge Inc. · No. 1:21-cv-01871
- Lorna Schofield
- Oct. 3, 2022
Background
Melesio Antonio brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL) against Sipsak Inc., doing business as Sip Sak, and Melissa Yegen. The Clerk of Court entered certificates of default against the defendants on October 29, 2021. The matter was then referred to Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave to determine damages.
Magistrate Judge’s Recommendation
On July 28, 2022, Judge Cave recommended entering default judgment for Antonio and awarding $452,792.73. The recommended amount included unpaid overtime wages, spread-of-hours wages, liquidated damages, prejudgment interest, and statutory damages. The Report and Recommendation also recommended post-judgment interest at the federal rate under 28 U.S.C. § 1961, attorneys’ fees of $4,330, and costs of $402.
Antonio served the defendants with the Report and Recommendation by mail on September 6, 2022. No timely objections were filed, and the defendants did not appear during the damages proceedings. Because there were no timely objections, Judge Schofield reviewed the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record.
Court’s Ruling
Judge Schofield found the recommendation thorough, well-reasoned, and not clearly erroneous, with one exception. The court ordered that the Report be adopted in part and adopted as modified in part. Specifically, the court modified the $59,803.73 prejudgment-interest portion by adding prejudgment interest at $17,234.51 per year from October 29, 2021, until the date judgment is entered. The court stated that this annual amount represented nine percent of Antonio’s unpaid overtime and spread-of-hours damages before liquidated damages were added.
The court awarded Antonio $452,792.73, plus the additional prejudgment interest described above. It also awarded post-judgment interest calculated at the federal rate from the date the Clerk enters judgment, attorneys’ fees of $4,330, and costs of $402. The court entered default judgment against the defendants and directed the Clerk to enter judgment and close the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.